1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to reproducing and recording in which audio data encoded according to a predetermined encoding system are recorded on a predetermined first area, and audio data and recording data are reproduced, linked with the recording data recorded in a second recording area, with respect to only those audio data among audio data recorded on a recording medium that are recorded on the first recording area.
This application claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-423459, filed on Dec. 19, 2003 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-334364, filed on Nov. 18, 2004, the entireties of which are incorporated by reference herein.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, techniques for larger volumes have been being developed regarding recording media like discs. It has also been demanded that various types of data such as audio data and computer-use data can be freely recorded/reproduced on/from one medium. Regarding developments of general-purpose media, however, compatibility and consistency with conventional recording/reproducing apparatuses are both important. From physical viewpoints, it is desirable that conventional resources should be used effectively.
Mini Discs (MD (registered trademark)) which are widely used at present are, as well known, magneto-optical discs having a diameter of 64 mm and are capable of recording/reproducing music audio data and the like. In mini discs, audio data are recorded with the data amount compressed to ⅕ to 1/10 according to ATRAC system. In case of audio data, for example, a mini disc can record data for 80 to 160 minutes.
Since mini discs for audio data are easily available for users, it will be very convenient if mini discs can be used even for other purposes than music, e.g., as data storage media for computers and the like. However, the recording capacity is as small as 160 MB or so, and no area is prepared for recording copyright protection information such as ID or the like specific to each medium. A problem hence arises in that mini discs cannot meet the demands for copyright protection of distributed contents, supposing use as versatile data storages for music/video distributions. Besides, mini discs adopt a management system (PTOC (Premastered Table Of Contents) or UTOC (User Table Of Contents)) based on a specific management area other than audio data recording areas. This makes it difficult for mini discs to meet the purpose for use with a general-purpose file system, such as FAT system or the like.
Further, if data other than audio data are recorded on tracks under management of the UTOC, problems occur in many audio devices (MD players), e.g., abnormal noise are heard while reproducing audio data. That is, supposing that mini discs for audio are used as general-purpose storage media, there have been problems of the recording capacity, management system, special information concerning copyright protection, noise in use with conventional devices, etc.
For the mini disc system, a disc standard called “MD DATA” or “MD CLIP” has been developed for the purpose of recording data other than audio data. The “MD DATA” standard, however, is for an exclusive use different from the audio MD and cannot be used unless the recording/reproducing apparatus is exclusively compatible with the “MD DATA”. In addition, the recording capacity is 140 MB or so. In these respects, the “MD DATA” standard does not satisfy the demands as described above. On the other side, the “MD CLIP” enables use of audio MDs and uses an inner peripheral part of the MD which is out of the UTOC management. This standard therefore involves no drawbacks in use with conventional audio devices. Use of this standard, however, has naturally been limited because of its small recording area for general-purpose data, which is only 2 MB or so.
Hence, modifications are made by narrowing the track pitch to change the linear speed, the modulation system, or the like in order to realize a high density of recording data. Further, a secret area (secure area) which is usable upon authentication is provided in addition to a normal recording area. New-generation mini discs have been proposed while thus solving the drawbacks as described above. In case of a next-generation mini disc, data such as music contents, video contents, and the like which have copyrights are recorded on the secure area in a predetermined format. The data can be reproduced from the secure area only by a device which is allowed to refer to this area.
Conventionally, video data and audio data can be linked regardless of file formats, for example, like the case of a music CD with image data. Between plural databases of different kinds, data items of plural input files, conditions for linking file formats and the input files, and data items of output files containing results of linking, and definition files for defining the file formats are read. A record area of the output files is then created on a memory, and plural input files as targets are read according to the layout of the area. The input files as targets are stored into the record area, to create output files. Thus, techniques for biding data between databases of different kinds have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-259461).
However, compression-coding formats have become diverse. Data coded on the basis of a kind of compression-coding format can be unsupported by a kind of device. Particularly in case of the next-generation mini disc as described above, music data compression-coded on the basis of a predetermined format are recorded on a secure area which requires authentication. The other music data are recorded on a non-secure area. Therefore, linking between music data and image data created by a recording/reproducing device compatible with the next-generation mini disc standard cannot be reproduced by another device or only the music data can be reproduced. In this case, contents after the linking become data incompatible between these devices. Even if copyright protection of data to be recorded is realized by preparing a secure area as described above, there is a problem that the data can be treated as data which cannot be protected when the data are linked with other data.
The present invention hence has an object of providing a contents-reproducing apparatus and a contents-reproducing method as well as a contents-recording apparatus and a contents-recording method, which allow image data to be linked to only specific data among plural different data created according to different formats.